Pedals & Puddles

2:05 / 21.8

I had to do a shorter ride this morning
because we had several errands to run. 

As you'll see in the pictures below, we had a HEAVY rain last night. 
I slept through it all.

Although the bike path was flooded in a few areas, I just rode through it real slow so I wouldn't spray myself  since I don't have any fenders on the trike.  The water was only a couple of inches deep.

No ballgame today!

I added the flagpole extension and some hi-viz streamers to the trike.

This was on the way out...

                  ...and this is a few minutes later when I decided to turn around and head for home.

THE END

A Nice Long Ride

3:05 / 30.6




Once again, I did a long ride on familiar roads. Nothing happened, not even a dog chased me.

Since it was familiar territory, I didn't see anything new to take pictures of.



THE END

Smooth & Bumpy

3:09 / 30.6

I rode 10 of the 30 miles on a road I've never been on before. 

The entire route had half smooth and half very bumpy roads.

No pix.  Nothing exciting or worth reporting happened.

THE END

Calm, Cool and Quiet

2:29 / 25.1

Made a big loop and was home before it barely got warm. 

Nothing worth reporting and a few pix.

Why do I get up at 4 a.m.?

I stopped at this park to take a break about halfway through the ride.

I've gone past this old conveyor several times, but finally stopped to take a picture.

THE END

Death Cab For Cutie

I came within a split second and 3 inches of being A.R.K. (Arizona Road Kill) on my ride today. But more about that later.


We have finally been getting some rain in Southern AZ, so it means lots of heavy clouds and cooler temps for a change.

I usually ride from 5:30 to 8:30 or 9 to avoid the morning heat. Today, I was out from 5:10 until 10:45!

I wasn't planning on being out that long, but with the nicer weather, I couldn't resist.

After a while it started raining right as I was entering a single lane construction zone with barriers on both sides and traffic in front and back.

BTW, it's the first time I've had to ride in the rain. I have no fenders, so I had dirt, sand, grime and probably enough crap on my arms and legs to send Howie Mandel into a Germophobic Frenzy.

It only rained for 10 minutes, but in spite of the puddles and getting wet, I had a blast.

So I'm cruising down this two lane rural road having a good time in the wet weather.

This road is long and flat and it was daylight with no visibility problems.

I decide to make a left turn and go down some side roads.

I check my mirror and I can see headlights about a mile or so behind me.

There is no shoulder on this road, so I move over and take the lane and extend my left arm out with my index finger indicating the way I was going to turn.

I'm holding my arm out for an entire bloick before I get to the turn.

Right as I started into the left turn, I can hear this car coming up fast behind me.

In the split second this whole thing happened, I remember thinking "Why is this guy riding my ass?" I figured he'd just keep going as soon as I got out of his way.

OH NO!

This Dum Bass Maggot Farming Cab Driving Son on the Beach is obviously out of his Vulcan mind! (How's that for being politically correct?)

Anyway, as I cross over into the other lane as I make my left turn, this idiot is passing me on the LEFT side!

He came so close to me I could've reached out and touched the side of the cab without hardly extending my arm. If I had still had my arm fully extended he would've ripped it off.

It happened so fast I didn't have time to do anything. I don't even remember if I stopped pedaling. I do know I didn't have time to even think about using my brakes.

All I saw was this white cab with green stripes go flying by within 3 inches of hitting my left foot as it went by.  We were in a 45 MPH zone, but he had to be going at least 55 or 60.

He didn't even bother to slow down, let alone stop to see if I was okay.

The funny thing is, I wasn't the least bit scared or shaken up. I kept going down the road and was thinking to myself "I just about got splattered all over the road."

Until today, the most miles I've done on one ride was 36 miles. I decided to do 40 miles today.

I kept pedaling and the cloud cover wasn't moving and there was still a nice breeze going. Perfect weather for a ride!

After a few more miles, I started thinking back to my little brush with death.

Here I am riding down the road, all wet and dirty....But...I AM ALIVE!
I figured since I was blessed enough to not get hit by that cab and since the weather was so nice, I said "Screw 40 miles. I'm going for 50!"

I had enough water, so I was in good shape.

I hit the 40 mile mark and headed down a stretch of road that I knew was 11 miles long. After going what I thought was about halfway, I turned around and headed for home.

I'm glad I turned around when I did, because when I was about half a mile from home the cloud cover disappeared and the HOT morning sun started beating down with no mercy.

When I got home I had a BIG grin on my face even though I was hot, dirty and tired.

Total distance? 51.3 miles. My first Half Century!

Not too bad considering I just got my trike 7 weeks ago and have been out of cycling for almost 16 years.

My two favorite signs!

THE END

I Love Clouds!

3:09 / 30.6

It was a lot darker than usual at 5 a.m. and when I looked outside, I discovered why. 
There was a sky full of BIG gray clouds! 

Thanks to all of the cloud cover, I was able to stay out longer and get in more miles than expected.

About the only thing worth mentioning is one dog that chased me.  He was a medium-size black and white mutt.  He ran along the fence and when he got to the gate across the driveway he dove between the rails and came after me.

After nearly 500 miles of riding my trike, I've come to learn that MOST dogs aren't trying to bite or attack me in any way.  They just want to chase the funny looking vehicle I'm on.

Normally, when a dog comes after me, I just yell and/or growl at them like a mad man and they stop dead in their tracks.

This time, I decided to out run the mutt just for the fun of it.  When the dog started chasing me, I started pedaling faster and he kept up with me for a while.  He was about 2 feet from my right elbow and was running pretty fast and barking all the way.

The faster I pedaled, the faster he ran.  It was rather comical watching him giving it everything he had to keep up with me.  I started laughing, shifted gears and was finally able to leave him beind.

He was a worthy opponent and it gave me a nice little sprinting workout.

I turned down a dirt road to take a break and a few pix.  After that, I headed for home.  I'm usually home by 8, but thanks to the cloud cover and the slightly coolers temps, I was out until 9:05.

Once the clouds were gone and the sun came out, it got hot REAL fast.  I'm glad I was close to home and only had to ride in the heat for a few minutes.

I took pix of Jolly Roger from all 4 sides just to show you some desert scenery. 
It might look like I'm way out in the desert, but I was only about 2 blocks from the main road.

Here's the beach, but where's the ocean?

That George Strait's song said "I've got some ocean front property in Arizona..."

I think this is it.

THE END

Waterfalls & Guitars

1:44 / 16.4

Nothing new to report.  Just a nice ride with a few pix. 

Arizona irrigation canal

It doesn't look like business is doing very well.

THE END

Bridges and Islands

2:42 / 27.4

It was a lot cooler this morning than usual, so I went further than I had planned.  I only took one picture since the entire ride was on roads I've already been on.

Not much to report.  I did have one large dog come out of nowhere and scared me pretty good.  I just yelled at him and he went away.

I've been able to increase my casual cruising speed by 3 miles and I attained my highest speed so far.
My fastest speed was 22 mph.  I increased it to 24 mph.  I was trying to get it up to 25, but couldn't do it.

I was just a few feet away from doing what that sign says not to do!

Okay, so this isn't a picture from my ride.

This is Wheeling, WV, where I grew up.

I lived on the island in the middle of the Ohio River.

That's WV on the left and OH on the right.

The stadium at the end of the island is where we had our high school football games.

This is looking south.  If you squint real hard, you can see Key West, FL!

This is downtown Wheeling, WV back in the 70's.

I walked down this street 5 days a week for 3 years when I was in high school.

It's become a ghost town with very little business.

Okay.  That's enough of Memory Lane.

THE END

Night Rider

1:27 / 13

I got on the road earlier than usual.  The sky was black and gray with just a hint of sunshine on the horizon.  I turned on my headlight and kept pedaling.  It got lighter within a few minutes.

I did a short ride because we had a couple friends that spent the night at our house and I wanted to get home before they left.

I stopped and took a few pix along the way;

Whenever I ride down this one particular road, there are always two of these little owls sitting on the power lines.  They usually fly away when I stop.  Today, they sat there and let me get a picture.

This guy was quiet the whole time, but his buddy was squawking up a storm.

That's it.  THE END.  Get outta here!

Before and After

Tuesday Morning Movies

1:51 / 16.4

I had two minor dog incidents today on my morning ride.


A little chihuahua was loose on the road. He was standing there wagging his tail, so I stopped. As soon as I did, he starts yapping like a madman.

I just laughed and started pedaling. This little ankle-biter starts after me, so I pedal faster. He starts running faster. I start pedaling faster.

This little dog had some seriously mad skills and just kept coming. I couldn't believe how fast he was! I was finally able to smoke him like a cheap cigar and left him behind.

I've outrun Dobermans 10 times bigger than this little fella, but he must've been on a steroid/caffeine high.

The other dog was a black and gray speckled coon hound and weighed about 60+ pounds. He was in a large fenced yard and started at one corner and was running along the fence line as I went by. Then he took off like a shot and was headed for the far end of the yard.

I thought he would stop in the corner and bark as I went by. WRONG!

Instead of stopping, when he was a few feet from the corner, he jumped over the 5 foot fence and landed in the empty lot next door.

I swear that dog looked like a graceful gazelle the way he went over that fence. After he landed he was on the edge of the road, growling and barking and slowly walking toward me.

He was pretty close, so instead of trying to outrun him, I slammed on the brakes and yelled at him. He stopped barking and started to go back, but as soon as I started moving away, he came back. I stopped and yelled "Get back in the yard!"

He looked at me like I just hurt his feelings. He turned around and took off for the fence, and once again, he sailed over the fence as easy as you please.

He landed in the yard and then looked at me as if to say "There, are you happy now?"

I saw another loose dog, but he totally ignored me as I went by. I saw more dogs today than I usually see in 3 days of riding. Thankfully, they were all behind fences...and only one of them could fly!

I didn't take any pictures today,  BUT.....I made a video!

I was just goofing around with my little digital camera.

Here it is;   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3A-tLwwsQ4

THE END

First Sunday Ride

1:27 / 19.1 miles

I usually don't ride on Sunday, but since I didn't ride yesterday, I thought I would.

I headed over to the main road that leads to the interstate.  It's never really that busy, but today is was nearly deserted.  It was really nice and quiet. 

I rode on some new and some familiar roads.  I took a few pix and headed for home. 

Since it gets a lot hotter a lot sooner, I decided I did not want to be out so long that I had to deal with the heat like I usually do.  I'd rather ride shorter distances and enjoy it instead of feeling hot and tired when I got done.  If I was on a cross-country tour (Hi, Ken and Jen!) I wouldn't have much choice, but since I do, I choose not to.

Ken and Jen are in Colorado and about halfway through their 7,000 mile journey to raise awareness for organ donation and to encourage folks to  become organ donors.  I'm a registered organ donor.  Are you?

www.kenandjennc.blogspot.com/

I was riding past this small church and thought about taking a pic but kept going.  I immediately changed my mind and turned around to take the pic.  Let me tell ya, doing a fast U-turn on a trike on a brand new, perfectly smooth blacktop road is a lot of fun!

I've gone past this tree lots of times in my car, but today was the first time on my trike. 

I like the huge, stark white branches and thought it would make a good pic.

I should've gone to the other side of the road to get the whole tree in the photo.

Oh well.  I'll be back this way again sooner or later.

We have a lot of errands to run, so I won't be riding tomorrow.

THE END

Flat as a pancake!

I didn't ride today.  Finishing the ride yesterday in that heat wore me out more than usual, so I slept in again!

I went out to check the air pressure in my tires and a couple other things.

It looks like I picked up a hitchhiker on my ride yesterday. Stuck right there in the sidewall of my tire was a LONG thorn from a Mesquite tree.  It was the same tire that had all the thorns in the tread a couple weeks ago.  That tire must be a thorn magnet!

Here's what Mesquite thorns look like...
...when they aren't sticking out of my tire!

I thought to myself "Uh-oh" and then pulled the thorn out. Unlike when I pulled the goat head thorns out of the tread a couple weeks ago, this time I heard that distinctive "TSSSSSSSSSS" sound as the air rushed out of the hole and my tire went flat real fast.

Oh well. It was bound to happen sooner or later with all of the thorny vegetation out here in the AZ desert. BTW, there are two Mesquite trees in my front yard, so I'm blaming this mess on them.

I got 360 miles before my first flat. My friend looked at it and said "I guess you'd better take it to the bike shop to get it fixed."

I told him I can't take it to the shop every time I get a flat. If I can't fix a flat at home, how the heck am I going to do it when I'm out on the road?

Just FYI, I haven't changed a flat tire in over 15 years and I'm certainly not what you would call "mechanically inclined", but I sure as heck can fix a flat tire!

I went out and fixed the flat.  The hardest part was pumping it up with that mini-pump! I really need to get a good floor pump to use at home. I think I'll get a better one to take on the road, too.

I'm glad I wasn't planning on riding this morning, because finding that thorn in the side would have really ticked me off. Instead, I just fixed it and went back in the house and relaxed.

I'm ready to roll as soon as Monday at 5 a.m. gets here!

THE END

Further Than Expected

3:04 / 29.8

I had places to go and thngs to do today, so I thought I'd just do a 20 mile ride and get home sooner. Well, as you can see by the numbers above, it didn't turn out that way!

On other rides, I would go past a side road and always wondered where it went.  I asked a friend and he told me it comes out by the local high school.

I knew where the high school was, so I had a good idea of the general direction of this new road.
So off I went this morning in search of undiscovered territory.

The road was pretty rough and bumpy, so I wasn't going too fast, but I kept going.  I came to an intersection and decided to take a break for a few minutes. 

Here's what it looked like;

This is what the inside of the metal shed looks like.

I knew what intersection I was looking for so I could turn onto the road that would lead me to the local high school where I would turn to the left and start making the return loop toward home.

I got back on the road in search of that intersection.  After many miles on rough roads, I finally reached a stretch of nice smooth blacktop.  But I still hadn't found the intersection I was looking for.

This whole area was all new to me.  I looked down the long road and as far as I could see, there weren't any side roads to turn on to.  I then noticed the road started up a winding hill with a double yellow line and no shoulder.  I also knew I was heading way out into open desert area and the high school was not this far out.

I also knew I was almost 15 miles from home and if I kept going, it would be REAL hot by the time I got home.  I reluctantly turned around to go back the way I had just come.  So much for doing a big loop!

After a few miles I approached an intersection, and lo and behold, it was the one I had been looking for!

On the way out, the side of the road I was on didn't have a street sign and I had missed the one on this side.  Now that I was heading for home to beat the heat, I wasn't going down that road since it would just make the trip even longer.

I went a few more miles and came to another intersection.  I recognized the name of the side road and knew it would get me home a little quicker.

Or so I thought.

I went about a mile or so when the road came to a "T".  If I turned to the right, I would still be going toward home.  BUT, there was a sign to the right that said "DEAD END IN 1800 FEET"

OOPS!

If I turned to the left, it would lead me further out into the open desert.  Once again, I had to turn around and go back.  I got back on the same road I had come out on.  I knew the only way back now was the same exact way I came here.

I had plenty of water, so I wasn't worried about that.  It did feel like it was getting hotter pretty quickly, so I just kept pedaling before it got worse.

Here's a sign I saw along the way;

A lot of towns are not cyclist friendly.  Thankfully, this area is not one of them.  I've never had any problems with any of the drivers I've encountered.

After several more miles, I was finally back home.  It was really starting to heat up, so I was glad to be getting out of it.  I finished the last of my water and went in the house.

I usually sit down and cool off for a while before I take a shower, but not today!

Not only was I hot, sweaty and tired, I was smelling downright FUNKY!

I couldn't stand being around myself, so I went straight to the shower.

My wife was very appreciative of that.

A few minutes later and I was De-Funketized and cooled off.

I did almost 30 miles.  In spite of all the twists and turns and the heat, it was a good ride and it definitely gave me a great workout.

Maybe tomorrow will be less confusing?  We shall see.

THE END

A Change of plans

I was going to ride Monday through Friday this week.


Or so I thought.

I woke up this morning around 4 and immediately started thinking about which route I was going to take today. As my brain was thinking, my body started telling me "Take the day off!"

Although my legs weren't sore, at all, my body did feel rather tired. I kept ignoring what my body was saying and kept thinking. The more I thought, the more my body said "Take the day off!"

I kept rationalizing it by telling myself "But I said I was going to ride 5 days in a row." I learned the hard way, that it pays to pay attention when you're body is telling you it's tired.

I was going to take my trike to the local bike shop for it's free 30 day check-up/tune-up, so I decided I'd do what my body was telling me. I went back to bed and slept until 7.

I have to admit, it was a good decison. It felt good to not get up so early and just spend the day relaxing.

I took the trike in and they cleaned it up real nice. I had them take off the foam cushion on the handlebars and had them replaced with black handlebar wraps. It looks a lot better and is more durable.  The foam was tearing and looked pretty crappy, anyway.

I also discovered I need to check the air pressure in my tires each morning before riding. All 3 tires were showing a wear pattern right down the middle. They told me all the tires only had 25 pounds of pressure. They're supposed to have 70!  None of the tires look or felt flat when I checked them in the mornings. Oh well. I know better now.

On the ride yesterday, I was sprinting pretty fast for the last 5 miles and I'm sure that's why I was so tired this morning. I'll keep doing short sprints to help build up my endurance for doing longer rides.

But I think taking Mondays and Thursdays off each week to relax and sleep in isn't such a bad idea.

Taking a day off certainly makes me look forward to getting back on the trike the next day.

Well, that's it for today. No ride means no pictures.

THE END

A Complete Loop!

2:58 / 26.9 miles

Since I had to turn around and head home when I started down that new stretch of road yesterday, I decided to go back to see where the road led to.  It was a VERY quiet road, as you can see by the location this picture was taken from;

I rode to the end of that tree line on the left and stopped to take this sunrise photo;

It didn't turn out as good as I had hoped.  Oh well.

I continued down the road enjoying the new scenery and the peace and quiet.  When I came to the next intersection, I stayed on the same road.  A short time later, I realized the scenery looked kind of familiar.  I then realized I had been on this part of the road before!  I was coming from the opposite direction the last time.  So much for discovering new territory!

Now that I knew where I was, I took parts from 3 or 4 four former routes and pieced them all together and made it into one big loop.  It's the first time I've gone on a ride that I didn't have to go back the same way I came out.  I'm learning a lot of the area and can piece together longer and different routes, now.

I like a lot of the ones I've done in the past and will repeat them sometimes and the other times I'll keep looking for new ways to go.

Here's a couple more photos I took on the way home;

I pulled off the main road to take a break.

This was taken on the opposite side from the previous picture.

I had stopped because I was in desperate need of a...uh..."Nature Break"...if ya know what I mean.

BUT...see that big white fuel tank in the background?  See that white vehicle parked on the right side of the fuel tank?  THAT is a Deputy Sheriff waiting for speeders to go by!

This is where they refuel all the county vehicles.

Just my luck!  I thought it might not be such a good idea to water the trees right now, so I got back on the road in search of a little privacy.

Before I pulled out on to the road, I stopped and took this photo;

Way back when, this wagon was used for the transport and storage of gunpowder.

When I was about 10 miles from home, I was FINALLY able to find a place to take a "break"...

And it had a lounge area!

The sad thing is, there's a landfill just a few miles from here where this chair could've been thrown away.  I guess some people are just too darn lazy.

It stayed pretty cool up until the last 5 miles.  It wasn't too bad, though.

After my ride tomorrow, I have to take the trike in for a FREE 30 day tune-up at the local bike shop.

THE END

Cut and Paste

2:42 / 23.3 miles

Instead of getting up at 4:30, I got up at 4 so I could get on the road earlier to enjoy the cooler morning air.  It's rather ironic that I'm retired and I go to bed around 9 and get up at 4 just so I can ride without having to endure the hotter late morning temperatures.  Oh well.  Getting up to ride is more fun than going to work.

I've taken rides in several different directions in the past month.  There are still plenty of new roads to discover, but this morning, I decided to take parts of a couple routes I've already done and combine them into one.  I had a short trip down a new road where I found a couple things to take pix of.  Other than that, I have nothing new to report, except it was another great ride.

These cars were just a short distance down a dirt side road, so I took a break to check them out.

Just a little Armor-All and it should be as good as new!

A pretty sad ending for a Mercedes, huh?

After this, I turned around and headed for home.  As I was going down the road, I saw a black and white Australian Cattle Dog standing on the side of the road.  He/She was the friendliest dog I've encountered.

The dog wagged it's tail as I got closer and stood in the middle of the road and stared at me as I rode past. 

THE END